Nuevo Flat Battery

Looking for some help please... I have a Peugeot Autosleeper Nuevo. I bought it last year and during the winter, because I did'nt use it much, the battery went flat a couple of times.
I bought a solar panel charger...That did'nt help.
Any ideas how I can stop it going flat....would it be worth buying a portable powerpack ?
Thanx Martin

Hi Martin,

There are lots of threads on here about just such problems, and everyone seems to have different ideas and or solutions. It is not a good idea to let the batteries go flat, so although a mobile power station might solve a short term problem one day it just will no work.

To some degree it depends where your vehicle is, if you can connect it to an EHU, you can use its own charger to top up the battery.

My solar charger seems to work Ok on my batteries, but then I do use it during winter, so I suppose they have not had a real test.

If all else fails, you can unhook the battery, charge them at home, and reinstall them when required, it does however cause other problem with radio codes etc, so it is better if they can be kept topped up in situ.

Stuart

Hi Martin,
I dont know whether you are able to keep your van on hookup, but if you do I would suggest that you use a plug in timeswitch at the house end of the lead, set to come on for about 1/2 hour about 3 times a week, to prevent it overcharging the battery(s). However if your battery(s) have already been flattened several times It would be worth getting them checked, as flattening a battery is the worst thing you can do for them, and can ruin them very easily. Assuming that you can not keep it on hookup you should if humanly possible take it for a run at least once a fortnight even if this is only about 5 or 6 miles, as the worst situation for a vehicle is to stand with the tyres in same position for months at a time. Assuming that your batteries are still in good order this should also solve that problem.

Brian2

PS There is a switch on the control panel to enable you to switch from charging vehicle to leisure battery while on hookup

PSS Autosleeper Peugeot on your intro details does not tell us that it is a Neuvo or which version, as an example see my details.

I second the opinion that you really should try to avoid letting a van stand for long periods, having bought one where all the tyres had flat spots for that reason. The brakes also suffer - I had to replace the disks on mine at only 12k miles because the previous owner hardly ever used it.

Some Autosleepers were fitted with two vehicle batteries from new, rather than having a purpose-made leisure battery. If that's true of yours, whichever battery has flattened twice will probably need to be replaced.

Yes the brake discs do rust up very quickly if not used, and vans which spend a lot of time standing in the same place IE very low mileage are usually said to suffer from lazy van syndrome, which could include seized rear brakes or even a seized clutch which will not free as it has stuck to the flywheel.


Brian2

Lazy Van Syndrome. Never heard it called that before!

I was lucky - mine did only 10k miles in its first 5 years, so the disks were shot (strangely on the inside only, so I didn't see until after I'd bought) and the exhaust also holed soon after I got it because the first owner left it idling every couple of weeks to charge the batteries, and the exhaust did not heat up enough to expel the moisture. But other than tyres, the rest survived well.

It now goes out at least once a week for a minimum 10 miles, unless there's snow on the ground (rear wheel drive = hopeless traction).

err,, the Pugs are Front wheel drive and it is they that are not clever on snow and mud, not the rear wheel drives

roli wrote:err,, the Pugs are Front wheel drive and it is they that are not clever on snow and mud, not the rear wheel drives

My Transit is rear wheel drive, and I can confirm from actual driving experience that it is hopeless on snow and ice - not enough weight over the driven wheels.

Front wheel drive ~should~ be better as the weight of engine and transmission are over the driven wheels, but that's purely theory - I've only ever driven RWD campers.

-mojo- wrote:

roli wrote:err,, the Pugs are Front wheel drive and it is they that are not clever on snow and mud, not the rear wheel drives

My Transit is rear wheel drive, and I can confirm from actual driving experience that it is hopeless on snow and ice - not enough weight over the driven wheels.

Front wheel drive ~should~ be better as the weight of engine and transmission are over the driven wheels, but that's purely theory - I've only ever driven RWD campers.

FWD is better on snow/mud but only if the tyres can provide the traction.

dandywarhol wrote:
FWD is better on snow/mud but only if the tyres can provide the traction.

Fair point - once they start to spin, I guess FWD will dig itself in quicker than RWD, AOTBE.

Apologies to the OP, I seem to have slithered off topic!

Thanx everyone for your replies. My Nuevo is the ES version. I drive it to work during the winters....However that is only a roundtrip of 4 miles !!! Not enough to keep it charged. i shall try taking it out for a long run once a week...see if that helps.
Thanx again ....Martin

punjabipal wrote:Thanx everyone for your replies. My Nuevo is the ES version. I drive it to work during the winters....However that is only a roundtrip of 4 miles !!! Not enough to keep it charged. i shall try taking it out for a long run once a week...see if that helps.
Thanx again ....Martin

Which of your batteries is going flat - engine or leisure?

Engine battery is going flat.
Martin

I would suggest that when you get the battery checked that you also get the alternator output checked though I suspect that a 2 mile run is not enough to replace the charge taken out by starting the engine particularly in winter when battery capacity is reduced due to cold weather.


Brian2